Big Bad Wool

 

Big Bad Wool / Leonie Swann
trans. from the German by Amy Bojang
New York : Soho Crime, 2025, c2009.
370 p.

Part Two in the series by Leonie Swann about a flock of sheep that solves mysteries! This one is a little more philosophical than the first, Three Bags Full. The sheep from the first story are now wintering in France with their new shepherd, Rebecca. They are uncertain about what is going to happen to them after this pause, and try to chat up the goats in the next pasture to find out a little more about the strange location that Rebecca has found for them. But goats, well, they are a bit insular and a bit nuts at the same time -- it's hard to get a straight answer out of any of them. 

But there has been trouble in the past; there are rumours of a loup-garou who may have returned to the scene of his crimes. A dead deer has been found in the woods, killed in the same manner as the victims from years before. 

The story moves a little oddly here; it feels a bit surreal -- of course, we are looking at it from the point of view of sheep, so obviously it's a bit fantastical. But this feels a bit hard to piece together from impressions by different members of the flock, sometimes at least. There is a kind of metaphysical mystery going on alongside the real killings, the ones that everyone is afraid will escalate. At times you aren't sure if the characters interacting with the sheep are real, imaginary, or ghosts. And the human characters are a bit indecipherable from the sheep's eye view, too. 

I liked this novel, and thought that some of the characterizations and the writing were enjoyable. Not sure I really understood or bought the mystery plot here though. It felt a little darker and a little more metaphysical than the first novel, which was straightforward in plot in comparison. Still the idea is great, and the sheep telling the story is what makes this series special. I did like it; hopefully there will be another in this series translated soon!